Aspen Art Museum Celebrates ArtCrush 2018

By Etta Meyer | Photos by Owen Kolasinksi and Sam Nandez for BFA.com | August 3, 2018 | Parties

The theme this year for the Aspen Art Museum annual fundraising gala was “cosmic utopia.” ArtCrush achieved an out-of-this-world feel while raising over $2.5 million for the museum’s operational and educational missions. The three-day series of events began with a (big) bang with dinner and dancing at the art-filled home of Amy and John Phelan during Wednesday night’s WineCrush event. The following evening, the Aspen Award for Art recipient, Rashid Johnson, gave a standing-room-only talk on the roof of the museum, while a public preview of the art to be auctioned off during Friday night’s ArtCrush was hosted by Casterline Goodman and Baldwin galleries. By the final night, the gathering of the world’s leading collectors, artists, gallerists and business leaders came to a sparkly, groovy climax in a tent at Buttermilk. Over lobster tails and tenderloin, the live auction commenced. Rashid Johnson’s work went for $730,000—a figure north of $400,000 over its estimated sale price—indicating serious excitement around the artist right now and enthusiasm for the AAM’s sustained good works.